Tuesday, April 14, 2026, 10 a.m. (Boston time), Boston City Hall, 1 City Hall Square, Boston, MA 02201
Hearing on Dockets #0733-0740, FY27 Budget: Operating Overview
The Ways & Means Committee, chaired by Councilor Weber, held its first hearing on the FY 27 operating budget (dockets 0733–2074), hearing from CFO Ashley Grubenberger and Budget Director Jim Williamson. The recommended budget is $4.9 billion, growing 2.1%, with departmental reductions of $20.4 million (1.3%), approximately $12 million in discretionary grant cuts, $5 million in year-round youth jobs reductions, 57 long-term vacant position eliminations, and no city layoffs. Councilors raised concerns about grant funding cuts to community organizations, youth employment reductions, BPS central office spending versus classroom services, health insurance cost increases (including GLP-1 medications at $48 million in calendar 2025), and the city's debt service and reserve policies. Two members of the public provided testimony on revenue forecasting and small business displacement.
4:31 burning.
4:32 um.
4:35 For the record, my name is ben
4:35 weber.
4:38 I'm the district six city
4:39 councilor and the chair of the
4:41 boston city council on ways and
4:41 means.
4:44 Today is APRIL 14th, 2026.
4:47 The exact time is 1005.
4:49 This hearing is being recorded
4:51 and is also being live streamed
4:55 at boston.Gov/city council dash
4:56 tv and broadcasted it on
4:58 xfinity channel eight, rcn
5:00 channel 82 and fios channel
5:00 964.
5:03 The city's budget review
5:06 process uh which uh officially
5:08 starts now although we've had
5:10 several pre-budget hearings and
5:12 a listening session uh actually
5:16 to uh here um uh will encompass
5:18 a series of public hearings uh,
5:19 beginning now and running
5:20 through JUNE.
5:22 We strongly encourage residents
5:24 to take a moment to engage in
5:26 this process by giving
5:27 testimony on the record.
5:32 Uh, you can do so, um, sorry.
5:33 You can you can do this in
5:34 several ways.
5:35 Uh, first you can attend one
5:37 of our hearings and give public
5:38 testimony.
5:40 You will we will take public
5:41 testimony at the end of each
5:42 departmental hearing.
5:45 Uh, and also at two hearings
5:46 dedicated to public testimony.
5:48 The full hearing schedule can
5:54 be found on our website at
5:55 boston.Gov/council-budget.
5:57 Our scheduled hearings
5:59 dedicated uh to public
6:01 testimony are in person here in
6:03 city hall on tuesday APRIL 28th
6:06 at 6 P.M. And again here in
6:09 city hall in person on thursday
6:12 ,MAY 26th at 6 P.M. You can
6:13 give testimony in person here
6:15 in the chamber or virtually via
6:18 zoom at all of our hearings for
6:19 in-person testimony.
6:22 Please come to the chamber and
6:24 sign up uh, on the sheet near
6:26 the entrance for virtual
6:26 testimony.
6:28 You can sign up using our
6:30 online form on our
6:32 council budget review website
6:36 or by emailing the committee at
6:37 squirm@boston.Gov or by
6:39 emailing uh, chris mitchell on
6:39 it.
6:44 Christmas car is h m a taxi.
6:50 Oh you hand at boston deck
6:52 of um when you are called to
6:53 testify please state your name
6:55 and affiliation.
6:57 Residents and uh, limit your
6:59 comments, uh, to a few minutes
7:01 or two minutes uh uh for each
7:03 uh, person giving public
7:04 testimony.
7:06 Um, and just make sure you're
7:07 prepared for that time limit so
7:08 you can you have all your
7:11 concerns heard by us email your
7:12 written testimony uh, if you
7:16 have it to the committee at 6
7:17 A.M. At boston.Gov.
7:19 Um you can also submit a two
7:21 minute video of your testimony
7:23 through the form on our
7:23 website.
7:26 Uh for more information on the
7:28 city council budget process and
7:29 how to testify, please visit
7:31 the city council's budget
7:34 website at
7:35 boston.Gov/council-budget in
7:37 person public testimony will be
7:39 taken at the beginning of this
7:41 hearing following the panelist
7:43 presentation, individuals will
7:44 be called in the order in which
7:45 they were signed up.
7:47 um and we'll have two minutes
7:49 to testify if you wish to sign
7:50 up for public testimony.
7:51 You've not done so already.
7:54 Uh, please uh, either sign in
7:56 on the sheet that's uh over
7:59 there now or uh uh, email uh,
8:01 our staff liaison at you know
8:05 christmas and it's cry sahm a.
8:10 Okechukwu h and@boston.Gov for
8:11 the zoom link and your name
8:12 will be added to the list.
8:17 Today's hearing is on docket
8:20 numbers 073320740.
8:23 An overview of the fy 27
8:23 operating budget.
8:25 This is one in a series
8:27 of hearings we'll be conducting
8:29 on the foia fiscal year 27
8:29 budget.
8:32 These matters worse sponsored
8:34 by uh mayor michelle wu and
8:35 were referred to the committee
8:38 on APRIL 8th, 2026.
8:40 Uh, today I'm joined by my
8:43 colleagues in order of arrival
8:44 councilor murphy,
8:46 council PRESIDENT Breadon and
8:46 councilor flynn.
8:48 We've received a letter
8:49 of absence from
8:50 councilor colletta zapata.
8:56 Uh, I you know, I so we're
8:57 because we have a lot of work
8:59 ahead of us and a lot
9:00 of hearings we're not going to
9:02 be doing opening statements at
9:02 these hearings but because
9:03 today's the first and because
9:05 there's only three of you if
9:07 anyone wants uh, one minute
9:09 each to say anything, uh,
9:10 councilor murphy.
9:13 Thank you.
9:15 chair could could you
9:15 explain?
9:17 Uh, are you going to we
9:17 already?
9:19 Uh, well yeah.
9:20 So but.
9:21 but my my mind.
9:21 you know.
9:22 Oh.
9:23 so so yeah.
9:24 Um.
9:25 thank you.
9:27 Could you just clarify before
9:28 we start seeing though this is
9:30 the beginning of many what you
9:32 meant by there will not be
9:32 opening statements.
9:33 Yeah.
9:35 so, uh, sometimes in some
9:36 hearings every councilor gets
9:37 Steve.
9:37 Yeah.
9:37 an opening.
9:38 Before we go to go to the panel
9:42 and go to questions, uh,
9:43 because we're going to be
9:46 spending a lot of time I you
9:47 you can give an opening
9:48 statement as part of your
9:49 questions but we're not going
9:51 to have that part.
9:53 I think uh, councilor earle did
9:54 that last year and and I think
9:56 it was effective in making the
9:57 hearings more efficient.
9:59 But because today is the first
10:00 one if you want to say.
10:03 Or just something.
10:04 sure.
10:05 I always want to say something
10:05 .
10:08 Um, thank you again for being
10:09 here.
10:13 Have some obviously questions
10:16 and some concerns knowing that
10:18 you know, we got the budget I
10:21 guess was formally shared last
10:23 wednesday and since then have
10:27 been hearing directly from
10:28 organizations from students.
10:31 So looking for some
10:32 clarification and I hope
10:34 through the slides and your
10:36 presentation and then just
10:36 questions answered.
10:39 but one email that was
10:40 forwarded to me from the eight
10:43 strong commission yesterday was
10:46 notifying a nonprofit provider
10:47 that certain grants would no
10:49 longer be funded and since then
10:52 ,um, I've received outreach
10:55 from students that their jobs
10:57 are being cut and other youth
10:59 employment opportunities that
11:00 are tied to community based
11:01 organizations.
11:05 So I heard it's just a rumor
11:06 though that maybe the city
11:08 started sending out emails on
11:12 friday and organizations,
11:13 nonprofits, individuals are
11:16 finding out that, you know,
11:17 opportunities or jobs they had
11:19 or grants they were funding are
11:21 no longer being funded.
11:23 And it does tie to the question
11:25 that I think four times now,
11:27 chris, um, I've put on the
11:29 record and when I had my one on
11:31 one with michelle with mayor
11:33 wu, it was the only question I
11:35 asked to see like back in was
11:37 it DECEMBER JANUARY when we
11:39 reached out to each department
11:40 saying we need to make some
11:41 cuts?
11:43 What was that communication to
11:44 each department and what did
11:46 they send back?
11:48 And now seeing that we do have
11:49 the budget in front of us, I
11:50 think it's still important to
11:51 see that because I do want to
11:53 line up where the cuts were
11:54 made and how are we
11:56 communicating and what are we
11:56 going to do about it.
11:57 Thank you.
11:57 Okay.
11:58 thank you, councilor murphy.
12:00 Councilor uh, breadon, do you
12:00 have uh.
12:03 Um no, I think okay, I have my
12:04 time for sure.
12:06 uh, councilor flynn one minute.
12:08 Thank you, mr chair.
12:09 I'll be one minute.
12:11 I want to say thank you to the
12:13 chair administration team that
12:13 is here.
12:15 Over the last several.
12:16 Years I've focused.
12:20 And advocated for us to be more
12:21 fiscally discipline and
12:23 fiscally responsible,
12:25 transparent and accountable to
12:26 the taxpayers of the city.
12:30 I proposed several ways to get
12:32 our economy moving again
12:34 including a city city
12:35 council blue ribbon commission
12:38 that was approved twice which
12:41 would encourage um and support
12:43 businesses in downtown boston.
12:46 I know our economy is
12:47 struggling, especially economic
12:49 development and I propose
12:51 reducing the idp.
12:55 I propose reducing the
12:56 regulations that we have on
12:57 berto.
12:58 I want to see.
13:01 City workers and.
13:02 Businesses back to work.
13:04 I do believe the rent control
13:05 debate.
13:05 Is hurting.
13:07 Financial investors that want
13:08 to come to boston.
13:12 But I want to support a
13:13 pro-business climate in the
13:15 city so businesses understand
13:18 that boston is open and and
13:19 welcoming to businesses.
13:21 We have to change the
13:24 perception that um that we are
13:26 anti-business businesses help
13:28 pay for our schoolteachers, for
13:30 our roads, for our bridges
13:31 supporting our elderly.
13:32 Uh, mr chair, thank you.
13:33 Okay.
13:34 Thank you very much.
13:35 We're joined by
13:36 councilor sharon durkan.
13:39 Uh, I you know, I'm just we're
13:41 statements.
13:41 generally we're waving opening
13:42 Uh, people can give statements
13:43 during their questions.
13:43 Thank you.
13:45 well, I'm excited to dig in
13:45 then.
13:45 Okay.
13:46 okay.
13:46 Do.
13:49 Uh, you know, I just, uh, a
13:50 brief statement for me, you
13:53 know, um, I think what we're
13:55 seeing is a budget where we're
13:56 having to we have budget
13:58 deficits this year.
13:59 Uh, we're going to look how
14:00 that's going to impact next
14:01 year.
14:03 Uh, for me, a question I'd like
14:04 to answer over the course
14:06 of these hearings is, you know,
14:07 is this, uh, sort of a
14:07 condition.
14:09 That's going to continue on
14:11 into the future is not like one
14:13 thing that we can point to like
14:15 a housing crisis or a.Com
14:17 bubble or or something we just
14:19 sort of have the costs increase
14:20 and the amount of revenue that
14:21 we can raise doesn't increase
14:23 as fast, you know, how are we
14:25 going to plan for the future in
14:26 an environment where um.
14:27 You know.
14:30 Uh right now it's it's uh it's
14:31 hard it's hard to do all the
14:33 things that we want as a city.
14:35 Um, and you know, whether this.
14:36 Is going to.
14:37 Continue on into the future.
14:39 So we've been joined by chief
14:40 financial officer ashley
14:42 griffin burger and budget
14:43 director jim williamson.
14:47 Um, I believe you have uh, a
14:48 presentation.
14:48 so I'm.
14:49 going.
14:50 To hand this off to you.
14:52 Thank you.
14:52 It's um thank you, mr chair.
14:53 Good morning.
14:53 Councilors.
14:54 Thanks for having us.
14:56 Um, excited to kick off this
14:58 very important phase of the
15:00 budget process for this year.
15:02 So thank you for taking, uh, a
15:03 lot of time with us today.
15:06 Um, we'll walk through a couple
15:07 of slides related to the budget
15:09 and then look forward to your
15:09 questions.
15:15 Uh, so the fy 27 recommended
15:18 budget uh, is $4.9 billion and
15:20 is a thoughtful, responsible
15:21 financial plan that honors the
15:23 city's commitments, prioritizes
15:25 meeting our long term
15:26 obligations, uh, and protecting
15:28 core city services while
15:29 setting boston up for the
15:30 future.
15:31 The recommended operating
15:33 budget is projected to grow by
15:37 just 2.1% or 99.4 million, the
15:38 lowest rate of growth in recent
15:39 years.
15:42 Revenues continue to grow but
15:43 are outpaced by significant
15:45 cost increases, particularly in
15:47 health insurance and public
15:49 education costs, which
15:51 necessitated difficult choices
15:52 in order to deliver this
15:53 balanced budget.
15:55 As a result of this slower
15:57 growth, city department budgets
16:00 overall decreased by 1.3% or
16:00 20.4 million.
16:03 These reductions were not taken
16:05 lightly nor were they easy but
16:07 were necessary in order to
16:09 preserve services and filled
16:10 positions in the city.
16:16 The fy 27 budget is coming at a
16:17 time of strain for
16:19 municipalities across the
16:20 commonwealth, driven by costs
16:22 that outpace the growth allowed
16:23 under municipality's main
16:26 revenue source uh property tax
16:27 uh constrained by prop two and
16:28 a half.
16:30 Despite this constraint and
16:31 challenge, the city maintains
16:33 its commitment to responsible
16:35 budget management and unlike
16:37 other municipalities in the
16:39 commonwealth this year this
16:40 recommended budget does not
16:41 rely on additional tax revenue
16:43 in the form of a prop two and a
16:44 half override.
16:46 Nor does it increase its use
16:48 of reserves to support ongoing
16:49 expenditures, ensuring that we
16:51 do not create a fiscal cliff
16:53 for ourselves in fy 28 and
16:53 beyond.
16:56 Rather, this budget
16:57 appropriately aligns spending
16:58 with expected revenue growth.
17:02 We continue to closely monitor
17:03 impacts of federal policies
17:05 whether directly on the city or
17:06 in the overall local economy.
17:09 And we believe that the fy 27
17:11 recommended budget is
17:13 thoughtful and responsible and
17:14 puts us in the best position to
17:16 manage through the current
17:16 economic environment.
17:21 So I'll walk through two charts
17:22 real quick to provide kind
17:24 of context for revenue and
17:24 expenditure growth.
17:27 Uh, so um and we have a lot
17:29 more on this I'll I'll breeze
17:30 through this but revenue growth
17:32 is primarily driven by property
17:34 tax and this budget which while
17:35 constrained represents a stable
17:37 and growing source of revenue.
17:39 The recommended budget assumes
17:40 that we will maximize up to the
17:42 levy limit and makes an
17:43 assumption for new growth uh,
17:46 at $40 million we have also
17:48 assumed increase use of what's
17:49 known as available funds
17:50 through an increase use in the
17:52 parking meter fund to supports
17:54 to support street operations in
17:57 this budget and state aid while
17:58 our second largest source
18:00 of revenue is only projected to
18:02 grow by 14 million consistent
18:04 with the governor's budget from
18:05 JANUARY 2026.
18:08 Uh, we are continuing to
18:09 project modest growth in
18:11 excises but that remains
18:13 relatively stable and then
18:14 consistent with the current
18:16 fiscal year, we are projecting
18:18 modest reductions in revenue
18:19 from departments and licenses
18:20 and building permits.
18:23 And uh lastly, we continue to
18:25 assume a reduction in interest
18:26 income due to expected rate
18:27 cuts during the year.
18:31 Uh, on the expenditure side,
18:34 that revenue growth is entirely
18:36 consumed by projected growth in
18:37 health insurance costs and
18:38 public education.
18:40 Uh the health insurance costs
18:42 alone represent an increase
18:44 of just over 97 million over fy
18:44 26.
18:47 Um this is due to the things
18:48 we've been talking to you all
18:50 about for um, you know, the
18:53 last couple of months, um, the
18:55 need to increase employer
18:56 contributions to health
18:58 insurance, um, as a result
18:59 of increased cost of health